Improvement in locomotives



hihihi; Shirt @anni di Letters Patent No. 113,216, datedllllarch 28, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOCOMOTIVES.

I The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the'same.

To all to whom these presents shall come Be it known that I, ALBERT S. SMITH, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have made an invention of certain Improvements in Locomotive-Engines; and do. hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof', due reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical central and longitudinalsection, and

Figure 2, a transverse section of the exhaust-pipe of a locomotive-engine withl my improvements added thereto. V

Upon closing the throttle-valve of a locomotive and shutting olf entrance vof steam to the cylinder thereof, or upon reversing the action vof' the steam drives air from the atmosphere through theexhanst-- pipe into the boiler or steam-dome.

llhis current of air carries with it a greater or lesser quantity ofcinders from the smoke-stack, and deposits them about the valve and 'seat of the engine, which, in the case of-coal-burning engines, soon scars and defaces'the parts to such an extent as to incapacitate the locomotive and necessitate the repairing of the same.l

It has long qbeen an object with engineers to vdevise some means of obviating this objectionable feature in locomotive-engines, and the purpose of this invention is to accomplish thedesired object by rctaining the cinders within 'the exhaust-pipe until the exhaust-blast from the cylinder expels them therevhieh my invention may be. pursued, I apply to the interior of the exhaust or blast-pipe a valve and valve-seat, so arranged that, upon the attempted in.- duction ol' air through the said pipethe valve shall close and shut olf this passage of'air to the steamchest, the vacuum within the lower part of the pipe, which would naturally ensue, being obviated by an airinlet-port, provided with an inwardly-opening valve, the. whole being arranged and operating as hereinafter explained.

The drawing accompanying this specification, and illustrating my invention, represents at A the upper portion of the exhaust or blast-pipe of a locomotiveengine of the form now generally adopted.

In pursuing the purposes of my invention I affix upon one side oi' the stand-pipe A a sloping boss 'or enlargement, B, rising.,r at an angle ol' about forty-tive i degrees to the axis of the pipe, such boss being recessed, as shown at C, to contain the. stem a. of a valve, b.

D represents a Valve-seat formed within the pipe A, and extending diagonally across it, in alignment with and at right angles to the axis of the` valvestem before mentioned, the length of this valve-stem being suiiicie-nt to enable the valve to entirely traverso and Vembrace the diameter of the pipe and'fshut oli communication through it, the 4said stem `playing within its socket'with suiicent freedom to allow the valve to drop by its own gravity upon its seat.

If considered preferable, a rubber or other spring may be inserted in the socket G, at the `base of the valve-stem, for advancing the valve to its seat, and

Vthis spring would further serve the `purpose "of a cushion to deaden the. concussion and vnoise which might otherwise ensue by the sudden ascent of the valve by the action of the exhaust steam from the cylinder.

A small check-valve, (l, is applied to the stainl-4 pipe A, for the purpose of admission only of air to the. interior of fthe same, and the outlet vof this pipe Should and will naturally be sullicicntly remote from the smoke-stack to be free from the access ofcinders.

When the engineer closes the throttle-valve lor reverses the engine,'the natural result will be a powerful suction of air downward throughthe pipe A.

The valve b, however, at this instant closes, and is forced tightly to its seat by this suction, as a consequenceikeeping back the cinders within theI smokestack, which would otherwise be drawn into the steamchestfwith evil results before stated.

,of exhaust steam from `the cylinders, which entirely expels them,` and at the same time closes the checkvalve d.;

l. The combination, with ,the exhaust-pipe of a locomotive engine, of a valve, arranged to close such pipe duringv stoppage or reversal ci` the engine, an

air-inlet valve for relieving the vacuum which arises Within the pipe when the first-mentioned valve is closed, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. 2, The herein-described combination of stand-pipe A and valves D and 1, the same operating in manner and to effect purposes before stated.

ALBERT S. SMITH.

Witnesses:

Fano. Gunners, Enw'xnn GRIFFITH.

itt. 1 

